Was thinking of going out to tip the monthly total over the 500 mark before April kicks in tomorrow, but it's snowing thick and fast at the moment! And cold out there.

Interesting ride out earlier.. did the Carrick Hills route again dropping into the village of Minishant and instead went south this time turning left onto the Straiton Road then turning left at the crossroads to head into Dalrymple.. it was then I could see what I thought was sheets of rain heading my way... coming up the big hill out of Dalrymple the clouds opened with what appeared to be hail.. and a nasty head wind as well....10/15 mins of sheer misery cycling thru that.... Picked up the National Route 7 back into Ayr with now blue skies and sunshine so stayed on the seafront out to the pier and then home
24 miles and soaked to the core....
Road kill count..2 very dead pheasants...

Went out for my first ride in a fortnight today, thanks to COVID. Bloody Hell, it's taken a lot out of me. I'd managed to get back to 50 mile rides and now I'm doing half that and feeling it. The flat was OK but as soon as the road went uphill that was it. I looked at one uphill segment on Strava and my times hade been coming down consistently all year, now I'm back to the beginning of January times and there wasn't even a headwind today...

Didn't manage a full hill climb today, although I got further than I intended, but I managed to reach pub car parks to turn round in - and collapse over my handlebars for a bit, not done that in years. The inside of my lungs felt like they were being toasted, a strange sensation. I suppose it's only onwards and upwards from here...

https://www.strava.com/activities/6921065245/

Bound to take a while to get your strength back, glad you're out and about again. Take it easy for a bit!

On the Carrick Hills circuit again.. lovely sunshine but a biting cold wind.. did a couple of variations which put the mileage up to 29....
No roadkill this time but some nice little lambs in the fields and a bunny rabbit on cycle route 7....
However a dullard dog owner with 3 sausage dogs who I wish were roadkill... fucking idiot...

Quote from: Nickslikk2112 on April 02, 2022, 09:29:00 PMWent out for my first ride in a fortnight today, thanks to COVID. Bloody Hell, it's taken a lot out of me. I'd managed to get back to 50 mile rides and now I'm doing half that and feeling it. The flat was OK but as soon as the road went uphill that was it. I looked at one uphill segment on Strava and my times hade been coming down consistently all year, now I'm back to the beginning of January times and there wasn't even a headwind today...

Didn't manage a full hill climb today, although I got further than I intended, but I managed to reach pub car parks to turn round in - and collapse over my handlebars for a bit, not done that in years. The inside of my lungs felt like they were being toasted, a strange sensation. I suppose it's only onwards and upwards from here...

https://www.strava.com/activities/6921065245/

Take in the views and enjoy it for a bit while you recover.

Quote from: Nick on April 03, 2022, 03:15:36 PM

Quote from: Nickslikk2112 on April 02, 2022, 09:29:00 PMWent out for my first ride in a fortnight today, thanks to COVID. Bloody Hell, it's taken a lot out of me. I'd managed to get back to 50 mile rides and now I'm doing half that and feeling it. The flat was OK but as soon as the road went uphill that was it. I looked at one uphill segment on Strava and my times hade been coming down consistently all year, now I'm back to the beginning of January times and there wasn't even a headwind today...

Didn't manage a full hill climb today, although I got further than I intended, but I managed to reach pub car parks to turn round in - and collapse over my handlebars for a bit, not done that in years. The inside of my lungs felt like they were being toasted, a strange sensation. I suppose it's only onwards and upwards from here...

https://www.strava.com/activities/6921065245/

Take in the views and enjoy it for a bit while you recover.

100%. Don't worry too much about times and speeds. Just enjoy the fact that you are out there and cycling.

Wasn't sure it was a great day for cycling - we had a bit of snow round these parts yesterday and I expected conditions to be a bit cold, as well as windy. But I only had time for about 40 miles, or so I thought - so with a brisk wind coming from the west, I thought I'd go up to the Beloved A Road, then turn back for home after 20 miles.

However by the time I'd got to Derby Airfield after about 18 miles I'd decided to come back a different way, through Ticknall and Woodville. I reckoned this would add a couple of miles to get me up to the requisite 40, so I turned back there and then.

So nice to be cruising along the nicely surfaced flatness of the A5132 in the sunshine with a tailwind. I only wish there was more of it.

Rather than taking the usual road out of Ticknall I followed a sign to Woodville, on a whim. Woodville was on the way home anyway. All this did though was to loop round to my usual route after about a mile and a half. Not a very interesting detour and probably knocked a bit off the overall distance, as well.

Back on 39.49 miles. Nice run out except that I wrapped up too warm and was overheating a bit. The weather was nicer than expected. Taking my Union Jack dutt off helped a bit, but I wished I'd brought a backpack so I could remove a layer of clothing as well.



I made a right dog's breakfast of recording the ride. I failed to press "resume" a couple of times after stopping, and another time I pressed "save" instead of "resume" so I split the track. Consequently I didn't know how many miles I'd done until I repaired the track and uploaded it.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6926661030

Received a WhatsApp from 'er indoors just I was arriving home, to say that she'd gone to a restaurant with one of her mates. Annoying because I'd kept the ride down to 40 miles because her right arm is in a plaster at the moment and I didn't want to leave her alone for too long. If I'd known, I'd have done the April Fondo. Would have been a pretty good day for it.

My new El Cheapo cycling shorts were fine.

A leisurely Carrick Hills climb with the mrs... then a nice stop over on the way home at the Secret Garden for some soup n carrot cake..

15 miles
Roadkill 2 pheasant....

Quote from: dom on April 03, 2022, 05:24:06 PM

Quote from: Nick on April 03, 2022, 03:15:36 PM

Quote from: Nickslikk2112 on April 02, 2022, 09:29:00 PMWent out for my first ride in a fortnight today, thanks to COVID. Bloody Hell, it's taken a lot out of me. I'd managed to get back to 50 mile rides and now I'm doing half that and feeling it. The flat was OK but as soon as the road went uphill that was it. I looked at one uphill segment on Strava and my times hade been coming down consistently all year, now I'm back to the beginning of January times and there wasn't even a headwind today...

Didn't manage a full hill climb today, although I got further than I intended, but I managed to reach pub car parks to turn round in - and collapse over my handlebars for a bit, not done that in years. The inside of my lungs felt like they were being toasted, a strange sensation. I suppose it's only onwards and upwards from here...

https://www.strava.com/activities/6921065245/

Take in the views and enjoy it for a bit while you recover.

100%. Don't worry too much about times and speeds. Just enjoy the fact that you are out there and cycling.

I'm just interested to see how much it's taken out of me. I never go full bore, but now it's just a case of getting there eventually. It felt a lot better today though, my old lungs felt more like what passes for normal, but the legs were toast today.

Saw someone with two Dachshunds today, oh how I'd love it if I found they'd been converted into Road Rissoles. Also saw a couple heading out onto the Moors with two dogs off the lead, not a good thing, a pregnant Ewe and its two unborn lambs were killed the other day not far away when a loose dog chased it out into the path of the van. There's a special circle of hell for these scumbags.

Taking things more steadily did allow me to get a better look at a bird which flew out in front of me and onto a roadside post, it was new one for me in the shape of a Reed Bunting. Over a year since a added a new bird to my tally.

Managed to up the distance to 32 miles today, much helped by a tailwind on the run in to home.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6926749143/

Another dry day. Finished work early and off I went. I wanted to do 40 or so and was thinking of doing a bit of the Dad's Army route, but it was very windy out there and I decided just to do a Twycross Bypasser. So I did, coming back along Bosworth Road and up through Carlton, Barton in the Beans and Newton Burgoland - which I hadn't done for a while. The smell of animal wee from the farm at Barton is very pungent at the moment.

Very much a game of two halves. Most of a Twycrosser or Bypasser takes place to the west of chez moi so I had a shocker of a headwind to cope with on the first half. But the Tricross rolled along very nicely in the second half with the wind behind me.

Stopped to lean the bike against the public library at Burgoland and take this pic. Nice to see the England flag fluttering in the homeward direction.



Back not long after sunset. I didn't need to bother with a front light, though I flicked the rear one on as a precaution for the last ten minutes.

Back on 36.49 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6936876044

Carrick Hills route again with another variation... this time heading to Maybole once i came off the hills...past a few farms and in the middle of nowhere it seemed for a bit...... 5 miles later dropped into Maybole and then picked up the Dalrymple road again....

Sunshiney day but a really cold biting wind..so didn't bother with the seafront/pier route and just got quick home...

24 miles
Roadkill Count.. 3 pheasants and what looked like a starling..

I managed to leave work not long after 3pm with the intention of doing a Fondo. I was going to go up through Melbourne and west along the Beloved A Road in the time-honoured fashion. However I realised after a few miles that I hadn't brought a phone with me. I'm not on call at the moment but even so, I'd never hear the end of it if my lovely wife tried to call me. She does have a broken wrist at the moment so it's conceivable she'd need help with something.

I pressed on nonetheless, but started feeling a bit anxious after I got to Hatton. What would I do if my chain broke, with no phone and no debit card or cash, 20-something miles from home? So I turned back.

Very much a game of two halves, on the outward leg I got rained on quite a bit and had to contend with a headwind. Conditions dried up nicely for the homeward part and it was a very pleasant ride with a light wind behind me.

Back on 43.59 miles, 120 this month. Target is 350.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6950848184

Did the reverse Carrick Hills route yesterday starting off going thru Alloway then heading out to Maybole.... Some steep climbs but worth it for the views.... Another sunshine day with a pretty biting cold wind..still loads of annoying dog walkers to navigate past at times...
23 miles

Still on the post COVID comeback, but today I took the Summer Giant out, it's lighter than the Winter one so doesn't need as much effort to achieve the same speed Or it least it wouldn't if there wasn't such a bloody headwind going uphill   I was barely quicker than last week. Still, I did manage a full ascent of Cutthorpe this week, that's a positive sign and going more slowly gave me plenty of time to listen to the evocative call of the Curlew. Didn't see any though.

Mind, I might not have seen them as I think I have Blepharitis and my right eyelid is all swollen, but a ride out seems to have brought it down, must be increased circulation levels.

So, I got in five more miles than last week, onwards and upwards!

https://www.strava.com/activities/6955375438/